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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22427788">cave canem</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alaudarum/pseuds/alaudarum'>alaudarum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Azure Moon - Freeform, Character Study, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 18:48:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>783</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22427788</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alaudarum/pseuds/alaudarum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>You think to yourself: It's a dog-eat-dog world.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>--</p><p>Vignettes about Ashe, ranging from his childhood up to the Blue Lions' march on Fhirdiad.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>cave canem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Wrote this for something else and decided you know what....... fuck it, let me edit and put it on my ao3</p><p>"Is niche gen fic all you write" yes actually</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You think to yourself: It's a dog-eat-dog world.</p><p>And if it's a dog-eat-dog world, then, surely, that one fruit merchant who frequented your family's restaurant would understand why you were slipping two apples into your pockets, no?  You're only taking two when you could have taken three: one for your brother, one for your sister, and the last one for you.</p><p>But the merchant needs to eat, too.  You understand that, so you only take two.  You take one for your brother, and you take one for your sister.</p><p>It's a dog-eat-dog world.  A strong grip closes around your thin forearm as a hand thrusts itself into your pocket, producing the apple you'd taken for your sister.</p><p><em>"Please, sir,"</em> you beg. <em>"It's Ashe, sir. I'm sorry, our restaurant's been closed since Mother and Father -- I'll -- someday, I'll be old enough to take over, and I'll serve you your favorite stew on the house. Please, sir, my brother and sister are hungry --"</em></p><p>The merchant only glowers at you after taking back his produce. He tosses you aside, away from his produce stand and into the street.</p><p>
  <em>"I'll let you go this time, but if I ever catch you stealing from me again, boy, you'll be spending evenings down in the cell."</em>
</p><p>It's a dog-eat-dog world, so you take advantage of his kindness and return to the stall hours later, slipping two apples into your pockets and stealing away before your guilt and hesitation threaten to slow you down.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>--<br/>
<br/>
</p>
</div><p>It's a dog-eat-dog world.</p><p>That's why you've started carrying a knife around.  You've never had to use it to draw blood before, but you've learned that brandishing it when people turn to reclaim their stolen food makes them stop in their tracks <em>just</em> long enough for you to flee.</p><p>Your fingers brush against a beautifully-illuminated tome.  You should have headed straight for this noble's kitchen, but you couldn't help but stop at the library.  You can't read a single word on the pages, but leafing through it makes you forget about the caked grime under your fingernails and the grumbling of your stomach.</p><p>In fact, you're so engrossed in flipping through the book that you don't notice the lord himself appearing behind you, until you feel a hand place itself upon your shoulder.  But instead of throwing you out into the street, he smiles at you kindly as you tremble, tears unending streaking down your cheeks.</p><p>Maybe it's not a dog-eat-dog world after all.</p><p>He wraps freshly-baked bread in a cloth and places it in your hands; he tells you to bring your brother and your sister, that the three of you can remain indefinitely in his estate.  So you return with your brother and sister, and he renames them to Son and Daughter.</p><p><em>"Lord Lonato --"</em>  you begin, but he shakes his head with a kindly smile.</p><p>
  <em>"No, my boy, my son, you may call me Father if you so desire."</em>
</p><p>Your brother and sister have a warm roof over their heads, clean water and fresh food to eat, a bed to sleep in, and an older brother who trades his knife in for pen and paper.</p><p>Someday, you will find that book again, and you will unearth legends and imbue yourself in the lessons of knighthood embedded within its pages.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/>
--</p>
</div><p>But you were wrong; it's a dog-eat-dog world.</p><p>Lord Lonato has a son.  To the Church of Seiros, he is known as Traitor.</p><p>Your adoptive brother is executed.  Your adoptive father falls into despair; you don't notice until it is too late.</p><p>He plots the Church's downfall.  Your House is sent to stop him.</p><p>Just like his son, Lord Lonato falls.  You are not permitted to aid in his burial, but you bury him in your heart beside your mother and father.</p><p>Time flies.</p><p>Edelgard declares war. Faerghus is nearly brought to its knees. The strong prey upon the weak. You think to yourself, it is nothing new, for it is a lesson you learned when you were hungry and ten years old.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/>
--</p>
</div><p>It's a dog-eat-dog world, but you are not a dog.</p><p>Professor Byleth returns to all of you.</p><p>Dimitri, once victim to despair, holds his head up high.  No longer is his gaze empty, and there is no anguish to be found in his glinting eye.  The King of Lions has returned, and he declares a march to Fhirdiad to free his people.  Perhaps, in the future, there will be illuminated tomes of this very moment.  And you, the street rat, the orphan from the dregs of society, will be permitted to stand at his side.</p><p>This is how you honor your mother, your father, Christophe, Lord Lonato.</p><p>Tomorrow, you march on Fhirdiad.</p>
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